donQi Urban Windmill on the Side

This is the donQi urban wind turbine, which is assembled in Rotterdam. It’s an interesting small wind product and the subject of a recent article in the September 2011 issue of Dwell. In the article, Second to None, Jane Szita describes a Passive House near Amsterdam by architect Pieter Weijnen. The home has some beautiful Japanese-style charred siding and a sleek-white, residential donQi.

The donQi was originally installed directly on the home, but Weijnen had to move it because the vibrations ended up being too noisy.

Which raises an issue that comes up with residential-scale turbines. People look at new turbine styles, such as the Honeywell Wind Turbine, and think about planting the turbine on the roof. That may or may not be a smart idea — i.e., hire a great engineer — because vibration and noise will be an issue. Make it easy, install it separately.

The bigger issue to solve first is whether there is enough sustained wind to justify the installation in the first place. Nothing looks worse than a wind turbine that isn’t spinning; it makes the whole sustainable movement look bad and gives the denialist wind bags more reasons to spew vitriol. Rant off.

But seriously, the donQi web site states, “Based on the yield from an average wind speed of 4.5 m/s it is possible
to recoup the investment within 10 years without subsidies and
financing constructions.” 4.5 m/s = 10 MPH winds, average, and the payback period depends upon how much you pay for electricity.